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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Live life with compassion

Compassion is not an
attribute of any one religion. It is a universal principle for happiness and
peace. In a world torn by conflicts and strife, where violence and not love
dictates peoples actions, what every person, at every level, of every age needs to learn is the art of nurturing compassion within. Be it a homemaker fulfilling
the many needs of her family, an entrepreneur meeting people and clinching
dealsfor her company, a politician
passing bills in the legislature that can change the destiny of millions or an
auto rickshaw driver bargaining for higher rates with his passenger - whoever you
may be, u need compassion. Compassion should no more lie in the ideologies of
philosophers, or in the lucrative rewards of theologians ( in the afterlife).
The voice of compassion needs to be heard in every household, educational
institution,office,business unit,shop,mall and theater, besides other places
and circumstances.

For centuries now we
have reserved compassion to be a prerogative of a chosen few, like a Christ or a
Buddha. We have also conceptually dismissed the possibility of someone living
and embodying such a quality in the hurry-burly or everyday life. Is it so difficult to live compassionately?Or are we so
incapable that we cannot raise ourselves to those standards?

Compassion begins
with empathy. Empathy is the ability to feel for another. Those who are sensitive to the motions of life, to the experiences of pain and pleasure, are capable of
empathy. Those who have watched the movements of their thoughts, the burden of
unnecessary thinking, and the pain of conflicting thoughts know it well. Those
who have paid attention to their emotional upsurges, the unintelligent ways of
anger, hurt or hate, the irrationality of fear, feel empathy for another who is
going through a similar emotion. Hence , compassion begins with attention to
one's own life experiences, be it physical or emotional.

Empathy and
compassion thus born would naturally blossom into acts of kindness to reach out to others. Well-being of the other is the highest priority for a compassionate
person; hence her actions would reflect tremendous intelligence, fortitude and
discretion. It could also be gentle words of loveand strength or a heartfelt prayer for divine
help.

Compassion is not
the armor of the weak; it is the weapon of the strong. It is irresponsible to think, believe and preach that anger and violence can solve our problems.
Problems at micro as well as macro level arise because of lack of understanding
and love between the people. Problems that are situation-based are very less
compared to those that are emotion-based. Situation-based problems need better
strategy and skill to solve them but emotion-based problems need people who are
involved in moving out of those negative emotions that are causing them.

That is why any
constructive change can never be effected through anger and violence.
Compassion is the answer.

Let us nurture the
noble virtue of compassion consciously with dedication. Let us see the faces of
people who walk into our world with smiles, tears, affection and wrath. Let us
meditate on their feelings 2 let compassion blossom